There is a major problem here for non-EEA nationals who are settled in the UK under the EU Settlement Scheme (as the wife or husband of an EEA national). This is a direct breach of the EU Withdrawal Agreement.
My wife is currently stuck in Portugal after a 2 day business trip from the UK to an international conference where we were exhibiting. When trying to return to the UK, she has been refused boarding on two airlines, and UK immigration have stated her documents are fine, not fine, no boarding (3 different officers, 3 different responses).
Immigration officials do not know the rules, every one having a different story.
I specifically checked everything was all correct when I came back to the UK from a different business trip just 2 weeks ago because her EAA Family Permit (biometric card) expired in mid October, and was told that travel with a printout of her pre-settled status was sufficient (with passport, passenger locator etc). It is not.
The information on
https://www.gov.uk/uk-residence-card is highly misleading.
My wife has been refused boarding twice, despite her Pre-settled status document stating clearly:
Your pre-settled status means you can:
....
travel in and out of the country without having to prove your status, as your information will be checked automatically
We have spent over £2,000 on extra tickets and hotel accommodation, and have applied for every visa that is accessible, including BRC (even though it is for non-EU Settlement applicants only), EAA family permit (despite the .gov.uk site saying these are no longer issued, that is not the case), and a BRF visa. So far, still stuck as these visa applications run through third party visa agencies that work for the British Embassy.
The advice from the EU Settlement Scheme helpline, is that they do not handle any issues relating to crossing the border into the UK and we should see an immigration lawyer.
Strongly advise not to travel unless you have a valid BRF or BRC or equivalent.
